P-400 (P-39) Airacobra Instrument Panel AP-347

This WWII-era P-400 instrument panel resides in the collection of one of our good friends in New Zealand.

According to its owner:

"This early-model P-39 variant was ordered direct by the British Air Ministry, hence never had a P-39 designation or a USAAF serial number. Like the P-322 Lightning, however, the P-400s were deemed unsuitable for the RAF's high-altitude interceptor requirements, and most were returned to the USA. That was not surprising as they were designed, like the P-40, as an Army ground support aircraft --- and US Army horses of the 1930s were not expected to have to operate above 10,000ft. AP347 was allotted to the 36th Fighter Sqn, 8th Fighter Group and was involved in the early stages of the air defence of Port Moresby, eventually being written-off at Bulldog Strip. This instrument panel was recovered in the 1960s, and the airframe was recovered about 10 years later. Sadly, it was left outside the Aero Club at Jackson Field (7-Mile), Port Moresby, where, as of a few years ago, it had virtually disintegrated from surface and intergranular corrosion."